London police Chief John Pare pulled no punches about a massive, booze-fueled weekend block party held in the shadow of Western University that drew a record crowd of 20,000 young people.

Western, he said, needs to do more to control unruly student behaviour, insisting police can’t deal with the fallout alone.

“We cannot rely on a police-centric approach, nor can we rely heavily on enforcement as the mechanism to control behaviour,” Pare said at a Tuesday news conference as authorities detailed the enforcement fallout of Saturday’s mayhem on Broughdale Avenue.

Police chief John Pare speaks during a news conference Tuesday, saying Western University has to do more to help mitigate “irresponsible and dangerous” student behaviour after a weekend party on Broughdale Avenue. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press)

There, students held a fake homecoming, known as FoCo, for the third straight year, to counter Western’s decision to move its homecoming weekend to later in the fall to discourage student rowdyism.

The Free Press asked Western what steps it will take to deal with the troubles that flared Saturday, which police say included 50 people treated at hospital, but the school hadn’t immediately replied following Pare’s 4 p.m. news conference.

Hours later, in a late-night statement, the school said it’s “extremely disappointed” by the behaviour shown during the street party and is committed to changing the culture that led to it. Western said it will meet with police, its student council and others in weeks ahead to tackle the problem.

A day earlier, the same Western official suggested there’s not a lot the school can do about a massive street party held outside its gates and noted the Broughdale bash drew a large number of young people who weren’t Western students.

As Pare called on Western to do more, police put numbers to the weekend event that cost taxpayers an extra $100,000 in emergency services and saw police bring in reinforcements from York Region.

Police laid 134 charges for provincial offences, which include public intoxication, and dished out 3,146 warnings.

Of the 132 people charged, all but 12 were Western students, Pare said.

One person was hospitalized with serious injuries after jumping off a roof, something London’s chief bylaw enforcement officer warned is unacceptable.

“The alcohol-fueled bravado antics of ‘brewfing’ (drinking on roofs) will lead to a fatality. We need a collaborative solution that involves landlords, tenants and the university,” Orest Katolyk said.

Police showed a video comparing the throngs who descended on FoCo to sparse crowds gathered at a student-organized event, Purple Fest, held on campus for the first time to try to siphon students away from the off-campus trouble spot of the past.

Police officers kept students from reaching parts of Broughdale Avenue in London Saturday morning. Eventually, in the face of a huge crowd and students sneaking past through back yards, police opened the roadway. (RANDY RICHMOND, The London Free Press)

The number of revellers on Broughdale Saturday was significantly higher than last year, when 11,000 clogged the streets for FoCo. Besides dangers from drunkenness, authorities have noted large crowds interfere with movement of emergency vehicles, including ambulances.

Pare called on Western administration to help mitigate “irresponsible and dangerous” behaviour that strains those services.

Even with 30 extra officers, Pare said police could only focus on “crowd management” as the masses developed what Katolyk called a “mob mentality.”

Pare said Western needs to counter student behaviour he called a “significant public safety risk” that shows “a total lack of respect for the community.”

“Maybe not getting marks or not carrying on in academic studies might make a difference,” Pare said. “Students need to change their behaviour and be more respectful.”

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About 28 people were taken to hospital during the Saturday event. Others made their own way there, with about 50 in total treated in hospital.

On Monday, Jennie Massey, Western’s associate vice-president of student experience, said due to fake homecoming’s off campus location the school was unable to implement sanctions under its student code of conduct.

She also said the mass gathering had “a significant amount of people who weren’t Western students.”

Only 12 people charged — two students from Brock University, one from Fanshawe College, one high school student, four non-students and four with unknown backgrounds — were not Western students.

Western students surprised to learn Broughdale west of Audrey closed off this morning after hundreds already made it to huge house parties on the street. #ldnont#focopic.twitter.com/uNdfyDKGlc

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